Valve device

• US 7,284,571 B2
• Filed: 12/16/2004
• Issued: 10/23/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nidec Sankyo Corporation (Nidec Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nidec Sankyo Corporation (Nidec Corporation)
• Inventors: Hara, Tetsuhiko, Ozawa, Shigeru
• Primary Examiner(s): FOX, JOHN C
• Application Number:
  US11/013,986
• Publication Number:
  US 20050150558A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,041 Days
• Field of Search: 137/625.46, 137/625.47, 251/129.11, 251/65
• US Class Current: 137/625.46
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 31/042 with electric means, e.g. for controlling the motor or a clutch between the valve and the motor
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 31/045 with torque limiters
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/86863 Rotary valve unit

Abstract

A valve device includes a main body case to which an inflow pipe and an outflow pipe are connected, a valve element which is disposed inside of the main body case to open or close an outflow aperture part of the main body case, a motor for moving the valve element in an open direction and a closed direction, a valve element drive means which is driven by the motor and includes a rotary member rotated by the motor and a rotation side permanent magnet mounted in the rotary member, a valve element side permanent magnet mounted in the valve element, and a holding member which movably holds the valve element. The valve element is urged in the open direction or the closed direction by a magnetic attractive force or a magnetic repulsive force generated between the rotation side permanent magnet and the valve element side permanent magnet.

Claims

1. A valve device comprising:

a main body case to which an inflow pipe allowing fluid to flow in and an outflow pipe allowing fluid to flow out are connected;

a fluid flow path formed inside of the main body case for allowing the fluid flown in from the inflow pipe to flow to the outflow pipe;

a valve element which is disposed inside of the main body case to open or close an outflow aperture part of the main body case which is in communication with the outflow pipe;

a valve element drive means including a motor drive part for opening or closing the valve element, said motor driver part having a rotor part that is rotated about a rotary center axis of the motor; and

magnetic drive means included in the valve element drive means for generating an urging force to move the valve element in at least one of an open direction or a closed direction by using at least one of a magnetic attractive force and a magnetic repulsive force generated with permanent magnets

a rotary member included in the valve element drive means so as to be opposed to the valve element;

a rotation side magnet part as one of the permanent magnets of the magnetic drive means, which includes an N-pole and an S-pole at different angle positions of the rotary member; and

a valve element side magnet part as the other of the permanent magnets of the magnetic drive means,

wherein the magnetic drive means is constructed such that a force generated between the rotation side magnet part and the valve element side magnet part is interchanged to the magnetic attractive force or to the magnetic repulsive force to drive the valve element in the open direction or in the closed direction,

wherein the outflow aperture part and the valve element are comprised of at least two outflow aperture parts and at least two valve elements

wherein a cam is provided on the rotary member for engaging with the valve element in a closed state to move the valve element in the open direction.

2. The valve device according to claim 1, wherein the valve element drive means is constructed such that a force generated by the magnetic drive means is interchanged to the magnetic attractive force or to the magnetic repulsive force to reverse a direction of the urging force to drive the valve element in the open direction or in the closed direction.

3. The valve device according to claim 1, wherein the valve element is disposed to move at an open position apart from the outflow aperture part and at a closed position closing the outflow aperture part.

4. The valve device according to claim 3, wherein the valve element drive means is constructed such that the valve element is moved in the closed direction by using the magnetic repulsive force between the rotation side magnet part and the valve element side magnet part and the valve element is moved in the open direction by using the magnetic attractive force between the rotation side magnet part and the valve element side magnet part.

5. The valve device according to claim 1, further comprising a sealing member formed of an elastic member disposed between the valve element and an aperture side face part of the main body case in which the outflow aperture part is formed.

6. The valve drive according to claim 1, wherein a valve element drive means further comprises a fixed shaft to which the rotor part provided with a rotor magnet of the motor and the rotary member are rotatably mounted and the outflow aperture parts and the valve elements are arranged in a direction of an axis of the fixed shaft with respect to the rotary member.

7. The valve drive according to claim 6, wherein the motor is stepping motor which is comprises of a stator which is provided on an outer side of the main body case and the rotor part is provided with the rotor magnet of the motor which is disposed on an inner side of the main body case.

8. The valve device according to claim 1, wherein the valve element drive means further includes a fixed shaft to which the rotor part is provided with a rotor magnet of the motor and the rotary member are rotatably mounted and the outflow aperture parts and the valve elements are arranged in a direction of an axis of the fixed shaft with respect to the rotary member.

9. The valve device according to claim 1, wherein the motor is a stepping motor which is comprised of a stator which is provided on an outer side of the main body case and the rotor part is provided with the rotor magnet of the motor which is disposed on an inner side of the main body case.

10. A valve device comprising:

a main body case to which an inflow pipe allowing fluid to flow in and an outflow pipe allowing the fluid to flow out are connected;

a fluid flow path formed inside of the main body case for allowing the fluid flown in from the inflow pipe to flow to the outflow pipe;

a valve element which is disposed inside of the main body case to open or close an outflow aperture part of the main body case which is in communication with the outflow pipe;

a motor for moving the valve element in an open direction and a closed direction, and the motor includes a rotor part that is rotated about a rotary center axis of the motor;

valve element drive means which is driven by the motor and includes a rotary member rotated by the motor and a rotation side permanent magnet mounted in the rotary member;

a valve element side permanent magnet mounted in the valve element; and

a holding member which movably holds the valve element such that the valve element moves between an open position where the outflow aperture part is in an open state and a closed position where the outflow aperture part is in a closed state;

a rotary member is fixed to the rotor part so as to be integrally rotated with the rotor part of the motor about the rotary center axis;

wherein the valve element is urged in the open direction or the closed direction by a magnetic attractive force or a magnetic repulsive force generated between the rotation side permanent magnet and the valve element side permanent magnet through a rotation of the motor to move the valve element between the open position and the closed position,

wherein the outflow aperture part and the valve element are comprised of at least two outflow aperture parts and at least two valve elements

wherein the rotation side magnet part is comprised of at least two rotation side magnet parts which are disposed in the peripheral direction of the rotary member;

wherein the valve elements are provided with a valve element side magnet part and are provided so as to face the rotary member in a direction of the rotary center axis and movable in the direction of the rotary center axis to drive the valve element in the open direction or in the closed direction

wherein the valve element is movably mounted in the holding member to move in a parallel direction to a rotational axis of the rotary member to be the open position or the closed position, and the rotation side permanent magnet and the valve element side permanent magnet are opposed to each other in a direction of the rotational axis of the rotary member,

wherein a cam having an inclined face part is integrally provided on the rotary member for abutting with the valve element at the closed position to move the valve element in the open direction.

11. The valve device according to claim 10, wherein two outflow aperture parts are formed and two valve elements are disposed at positions corresponding to the respective outflow aperture parts in the direction of the rotational axis of the rotary member, and the two outflow aperture parts provide four modes of “

OPEN and CLOSED”

mode, “

OPEN and OPEN”

mode, “

CLOSED and OPEN”

mode, and “

CLOSED and CLOSED”

mode while the rotary member turns approximately one revolution.

12. The valve device according to claim 11, wherein the two outflow aperture parts and the two valve elements are respectively provided at an angular position of approximately 90 degrees with respect to the rotation axis of the rotary member.

13. The valve device according to claim 10, further comprising a positioning part provided on the main body case for determining a reference position of the rotary member in a rotation direction.

14. The valve device according to claim 10, further comprising a sealing member formed of an elastic member disposed between the valve element and an aperture side face part of the main body case in which the outflow aperture part is formed.

15. The valve device according to claim 14, further comprising:

an intermediate bottom part provided in the holding member which includes a valve element holding hole at a position corresponding to the outflow aperture part for holding the valve element so as to move the valve element in the open or closed direction; and

a cylindrical part in a cylindrical shape provided in the holding member which is formed on an outer side of the intermediate bottom part,

wherein the sealing member is pressed against the aperture side face part of the main body case by the cylindrical part of holding member.

16. The valve drive according to claim 10, wherein a valve element drive means further comprises a fixed shaft to which the rotor part provided with a rotor magnet of the motor and the rotary member are rotatably mounted and the outflow aperture parts and the valve elements are arranged in a direction of an axis of the fixed shaft with respect to the rotary member.

17. The valve device according to claim 10, wherein the motor is a stepping motor which is comprised of a stator which is provided on an outer side of the main body case and the rotor part is provided with the rotor magnet of the motor which is disposed on an inner side of the main body case.

18. A valve device comprising:

a main body case to which an inflow pipe allowing fluid to flow in and an outflow pipe allowing the fluid to flow out are connected;

a fluid flow path formed inside of the main body case for allowing the fluid flown in from the inflow pipe to flow to the outflow pipe;

a valve element which is disposed inside of the main body case to open or close an outflow aperture part of the main body case which is in communication with the outflow pipe;

a motor for moving the valve element in an open direction and a closed direction, and the motor includes a rotor part that is rotated about a rotary center axis of the motor;

valve element drive means which is driven by the motor and includes a rotary member rotated by the motor and a rotation side permanent magnet mounted in the rotary member;

a valve element side permanent magnet mounted in the valve element; and

a holding member which movably holds the valve element such that the valve element moves between an open position where the outflow aperture part is in an open state and a closed position where the outflow aperture part is in a closed state;

a rotary member is fixed to the rotor part so as to be integrally rotated with the rotor part of the motor about the rotary center axis;

wherein the valve element is urged in the open direction or the closed direction by a magnetic attractive force or a magnetic repulsive force generated between the rotation side permanent magnet and the valve element side permanent magnet through a rotation of the motor to move the valve element between the open position and the closed position,

wherein the outflow aperture part and the valve element are comprised of at least two outflow aperture parts and at least two valve elements

wherein the rotation side magnet part is comprised of at least two rotation side magnet parts which are disposed in the peripheral direction of the rotary member;

wherein the valve elements are provided with a valve element side magnet part and are provided so as to face the rotary member in a direction of the rotary center axis and movable in the direction of the rotary center axis to drive the valve element in the open direction or in the closed direction

wherein two outflow aperture parts are formed and two valve elements are disposed at positions corresponding to the respective outflow aperture parts in the direction of the rotational axis of the rotary member, and the two outflow aperture parts provide four modes of “

OPEN and CLOSED”

mode, “

OPEN and OPEN”

mode, “

CLOSED and OPEN”

mode, and “

CLOSED and CLOSED”

mode while the rotary member turns approximately one revolution,

wherein the two outflow aperture parts and the two valve elements are respectively provided at an angular position of approximately 90 degrees with respect to the rotation axis of the rotary member.

19. The valve device according to claim 18, further comprising a positioning part provided on the main body case for determining a reference position of the rotary member in a rotation direction.

20. The valve device according to claim 18, further comprising a sealing member formed of an elastic member disposed between the valve element and an aperture side face part of the main body case in which the outflow aperture part is formed.

21. The valve device according to claim 20, further comprising:

an intermediate bottom part provided in the holding member which includes a valve element holding hole at a position corresponding to the outflow aperture part for holding the valve element so as to move the valve element in the open or closed direction; and

a cylindrical part in a cylindrical shape provided in the holding member which is formed on an outer side of the intermediate bottom part,

wherein the sealing member is pressed against the aperture side face part of the main body case by the cylindrical part of holding member.

22. The valve drive according to claim 18, wherein the valve element drive means further comprises a fixed shaft to which the rotor part provided with a rotor magnet of the motor and the rotary member are rotatably mounted and the outflow aperture parts and the valve elements are arranged in a direction of an axis of the fixed shaft with respect to the rotary member.

23. The valve device according to claim 18, wherein the motor is a stepping motor which is comprised of a stator which is provided on an outer side of the main body case and the rotor part is provided with the rotor magnet of the motor which is disposed on an inner side of the main body case.